


Skyfall

by nachtmaredoll



Series: Paint It Black [1]
Category: Persona 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25572814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nachtmaredoll/pseuds/nachtmaredoll
Summary: Arsene thinks on his relationship with his User, Kurusu Akira and what it took to get where they are now, and on how they'll go forward.
Series: Paint It Black [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853329
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	Skyfall

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first part of a series. (Warning: the series will be Explicit rating)
> 
> —  
> Now updated, see end notes.

Arsène has never been held by a mortal soul, at least not before the young lad woke to his powers and called him forth from the Sea of Souls. It was, _odd_ , to come into being. Knowing you are a figment of imagination made whole and real by the will of another, and not the person to have created you, is a head rush. But, he came into being with full knowledge of the world around him and happily helped the wronged and in danger teen. It was nothing at first, to be used in lessons and sacrificed to allow his User to grow. When the lad turned around and pulled him from the ether, cradling him close to his soul and heart, he stayed. He pulled himself away from the chains within the white domino mask and stayed settled in the kid’s soul. They grew together, made friends and bonds. The Thieves were quickly friends with both Akira as well as Arsène.

The teens’ Personas also bonding together as strongly as their Users.

Zoro was the true first, as Morgana eagerly taught and guided them; Captain Kidd was the first of the teens though, followed by Carmen. Goemon quickly joined them, and then they met Johanna. When the teens were together, and they could interact freely; Zoro and Goemon liked to sword fight with each other, while he was usually used as an intermediary. Captain Kidd spent almost all of his downtime exploring. Carmen happily bothered Johanna, and Johanna tried to keep them all in check. When they were contracted to steal Sakura Futaba’s heart, Arsène’s own had gone out protectively towards the hurt little Shadow Pharaoh. With the way Futaba latched onto Akira, Arsène had not been surprised for Necronomicon to gravitate towards him, befriending the voiceless creature however, was a surprise. Before, there had been bonds between Akira and the others, but nothing deeper for him personally. Not until he learnt the twitches of Necronomicon’s tentacles, the spins and turns and how to read the alien’s body language.

They became best friends, as protective of each other’s Users as they were to their own. Akira would talk to him, pull and greet him. Ask his opinion, follow his lead for the daredevil stunts, trusting in Arsène’s wings to keep him safe. Futaba was much the same with Necronomicon. She went out and bought metal shine, tools and batteries. Akira would take her to Mementos and they would sit as Futaba tended to Necronomicon’s spaceship shell, or poured water over the tentacles. She built a new laptop to connect to the Persona, giving him code in which to talk to her. They bonded, as deeply family as the two humans.

When they met Okumura Haru, and Milady joined them, he’d expected her to join the other female Personas, but instead she came and sat beside him to watch Zoro and Goemon sword fight. Or ask Captain Kidd of his journeys. Necronomicon took to nearly sitting on her, his tentacles always stealing her opera mask. She was playful, and he counted her the other dearest among his personal friends.

When everything came to a head against the Holy Grail, Arsène had screamed in bloody horror as his bonds pulled and severed. One by one, he felt them all rip out from his soul. He clung ever tighter to Akira, and felt what must be tears as everything shattered around them. He’d been broken, injured and hurt coming to face that bastard celestial. Fighting the twins, whom he thought of almost as fondly as Futaba, had been heartbreaking. But, Akira fought back. Igor, however, wasn’t who he pretended to be. Instead, it was the God of Control and their blood had run cold at the knowledge they had been played and manipulated by the celestial. Akira had pulled on their bond, tugging tightly on Arsène’s chains for strength and had whipped in a sharp turn and refused the deal with the God of Control.

They had fought then; fought through every Shadow between them and the despicable celestial. To have his chains ripped off him, and to evolve to Satanael was amazing and freeing. They had won the battle with Yaldabaoth, stopping Ruin from taking over the world.

But… damage had been set forth and Mementos still lingered, the game set into motion by the God of Control was not finished, and the celestials had nothing to offer as answers or solutions to fix it. 

_Send me back. Give me a chance to stop this, or change it. I’ll pay the price for the ferry across time and space._

In that moment, in Akira’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sheer chance to protect his loved ones, Arsène had realized he’d come to love the human. Akira was something like a son or nephew to him, perhaps a grandson—considering his age in the public consciousness that built his presence within the Sea of Souls.

They were fading out, and fast, but Lavenza and Igor had tugged on Arsène’s chains to pull him closer and he wrapped Akira within his wings. 

Every single bond hummed, going dormant as Akira faded out from the pain but Arsène stayed awake. The high level Confidant bonds tugged at his soul. He tugged at Lavenza, finding her along the distant and cracked links to the twins’, and asked her if Akira had to change for this to work. Her response, that Akira’s body was going to be changing to protect from the God of Control’s eyesight, as he thought of women as weak was shocking and not what he’d meant when he asked. 

With love and care, he moved to Akira’s shifting body and wrapped his beloved User within his wings and let them coast through time. The game would start again, and they would be ready. They could face anything together, pull off any heist and go to greater heights. Arsène wrapped his clawed hands and wings tighter around the unconscious form that laid so serenely within his embrace. He faintly could hear Necronomicon humming, sending one last burst of a protection spell and could hear Zoro barking orders to protect Akira or he’d be gutted, Goemon’s smell of sake and paint filled his nose, Captain Kidd called out with Carmen to wait for them, and Milady hummed an operatic lullaby that soothed his still wounded soul. Johanna threatened pain and retribution if he failed in protecting Akira before they could all meet again.

His powers and form protected the soul in his arms as they stayed in limbo, lost above the Sea as the world twisted and turned in reverse. Akira curled into Arsène’s presence and he held the small petite girl in place.

* * *

Time didn’t exist here. In this floating nebulous of nothing. And Arsène slept. 

He slept until the day he didn’t. Watched as they disappeared from the Sea of Souls. Then, Akira began to stir, and he turned his body, holding the girl within his arms. Cradled her to his chest as they came to stand on solid ground. He reluctantly let her go, watching her step into the realm of solid reality and becoming invisible again as she unconsciously tugged on their bond and he followed along. He’d never leave her. 

He couldn’t wait to see their friends and family again.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S.: I have revised this as of 2021/01/07 and I will be rewriting and improving “Queen of the Night”. Updates on that fic will be slow to come as I have to redo whole chapters and am also currently focusing on a FFVII work.


End file.
